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A theme which will be deliberated 
by the loftiest minds, ages after you 
and I, like streaks of morning cloud, 
shall have melted into the infinite 
azure of the past. 

Prof. John Tyndali. 

A Deity believed, is Joy begun; 
A Deity adored, is joy advanced; 
A Deity beloved, is joy matured. 
Each branch of piety delight inspires. 

Young. 

It must be so, Plato, thou reasonest 

well!— 
Else whence this pleasing hope, this 

fond desire. 
This longing after immortality? 

Addison. 

Still seems it strange, that thou 

shouldst live for ever? 
Is it less strange, that thou shouldst 

live at all? 
THIS is a miracle, and THAT no 

more. 

Young. 

Who knows but life be that which 
men call death, and death what men 
call life. 

Euripides. 

O canst thou, my Soul, from the store 

of thy learning 
Bring counsel to hallow the hopes of 

the heart? 

Viett. 



Th^ Saiutig Sist:erlTXi0ri 

Faitlr, TO^rrg, unii ^mtt, 

^nri tiTB (EansB nf HwtnEuitg as 

S:ertirxl bg 

Tte ^ntjeriran %:eri Qlxnss 

To TOIrnm tuill bl^ gnnatBil tlT:e 
f raf its xlEriti^xl f rxrm all 

griitinns nf this ?C0rk 
Fur a pBri0ri xrf nttje g)?ar. 

gti Snl^emn f rtitjest ^gainst 
TOar and Sts Hnrrnrs 

M0tti gjes^Tating thE <^nrient 

^arBS 0f (KitiiTizatinn 

and CHlrristianitg, 



^. i. TOOITO^Sl^ 




What \n me is dark 
Illumine, what is low raise and sup- 

port; 
That, to the height of this great 

argument, 
I may assert Eternal Providence 
And justify the ways of God to men. 

Mifton. 




Hail — Saintly Muse! Awake 

thine Heavenly Choir, 
Illume my Soul with thy 

Divinelier Fire! 
Prompt thou a Passion 

that may urge the 

strength 
Of Pilgrims searching for 

the Heart's Desire! 



Man and his Destiny — O 

theme Sublime 
For one that views the 

Pageantry of Time! 
Its passion and its pathos 

and its pride, — 
I crave a Seraph's plume to 

pen my Rhyme! 



THE NEW RUBAIYAT 



III 

Awake O Soul that seeks a 

holier Light 
Than drives the Stars from 

off the Field of Night! 
Behold the Rising of the 

Sun of Faith — 
The hosts of Darkness and 

of Doubt to smite! 

IV 

Come fill the bowl at this 

reviving Stream, 
For Life is brief, and 

Youth's enchanting 

dream 
Is but the Phantom of a 

Glory lost 
Adown that Vista where the 

Shadows teem. 

v 

Amid the Babble and the 

Noise outside, 
Methought a Voice above 

the uproar cried — 
"Come to the Temple 

where the True God 

hears 
The pleading Soul, and 

throws the Portals 

wide!" 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 3 

VI 

And as the Sun rose some 

that stood within 
The Shadow, shouted — 

"Tell us not of Sin, 
Life is too brief to waste 

in Litanies, 
Let us fare forth our Wine 

and Joy to win." 

VII 

Before the shadows of the 

last were sped. 
Another Voice from out the 

Silence said — 
"I still remain, my name is 

Blasphemy, 
I will abide though all the 

rest be fled!" 

VIII 

But better Voices drowned 

the hateful sound — 
"At least You shall not stay 

on Holy ground. 
Brief is your time to curse 

the pleasant Earth, 
And in this Temple you shall 

not be found!" 



THE NEW RUBAIYAT 



IX 

Far from the noisy Crowd 

let us retire 
To warm our Hearts by 

Spring's enchanting 

Fire; 
Bring thou old Khayyam's 

Verse, and let us seek 
With him, the Pathway to 

the Heart's Desire. 

X 

For we be Seekers after 

Truth and Light, 
And 'ere the Shadows fall to 

dim our sight, 
We must determine on the 

Way and Guide 
For that last Journey 

through the Vale of 

Night. 

XI 

For this we know, that Life, 

so dear and sweet 
Ends — with thy Love in 

yonder lone retreat. 
Man and his moil, his 

laughter and his tears, 
Are as the hollow sounds of 

Phantom feet — 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 5 

XII 

That patter through the 

crumbling Halls of 

Time, 
Where the loud Horologe 

sovmds its warning 

chime 
And strikes the Hour of 

Doom, to bid the Guests 
Fare forth into the bleak 

Night's alien Clime. 

Xlli 

Here then amid the Song- 
ster's caroling, 

Where blushing Roses rarest 
incense fling. 
Come thou to worship, 
and let Sorrow learn 

The infinite Compassion of 
the Spring. 

xiv 

For Spring has come: the 

light of Golden days 
Is mellow on bright fields 

and woodland ways; 
And all the World is 

Beauty newly bom. 
And every living Thing 

hymns forth its Praise! 



THE NEW RUBAIYAT 



XV 

The Garden's glory glows to 
Heav'n again, 

For gentle floods of Sun- 
shine and of Rain 
Have lured the Rose its 
blushing folds to spread, 

While joyous Songsters sing 
their love refrain. 

XVI 

You cry, — "It nought avails 

that Spring is sweet. 
My Love lies buried here 

beneath our feet. 
My heart lies with her in 

the silent Dust, 
Canst thou recall Her from 

her lone retreat!" 

XVII 

"Erstwhile we roamed amid 

these joyous Flowers, 
No thought of Grief had we, 

the Golden Hours 
Sped on, for Life and Love 

were by my side; 
Canst thou recall Her to 

these haunted bowers!" 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 7 

XVIIi 

"The Birds lament, their 
song is full of pain, 

They seem to cry — Will She 
not come again? 
Is this gulf Death so fath- 
omless and wide 

That thou thy Love may 
nevermore regain!" 

XIX 

And so thou canst not in the 

fire of Spring 
The desolation of thy sad 

Heart fling! 
Yet May — rose-garlanded 

— cries out "Behold, 
Not leaden Death, but 

golden Life a- wing!" 

XX 

I sing the Resurrection, and 

my Prayer 
Is answered by the green 

Earth everjrwhere; 
Decay and Death! These 

are but other names 
For Change; behold It in 

this Garden fair! 



THE NEW RUBAIYAT 



XXI 

See! even Here thy Love is 

glorified, 
For long has She the Grave 

and Death denied! 
This very Rose that smiles 

above her Clay 
Is part of Her, for Lo — *tis 

Eastertide ! 

XXM 

Witness thy Science, O ye 

Cynical, 
Behold this Body rise, a 

Miracle ! 
Thou canst not grant the 

tiniest atom lost, 
'Twill live again in Rose or 

Star — It Will! 

XXIII 

Come with old Kha5ryam's 

Book and let us scan 
Its sad perplexities of Plot 

and Plan, 
The Why and What, the 

Whence and Where of 

Life 
That thwart and fret the 

searching Soul of Man. 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 9 

XXIV 

Beware this Persian rhyme! 

And here confess 
We read it but for its rare 

loveliness, 
Holding our Faith despite 

the siren chant 
That lures to Doubt with 

Melody's caress! 

XXV 

Enmeshed i n measures o £ 

enchanted Song, 
The dazzling numbers lead 

thy Soul along 
The paths of Pleasure and 

the ways of Doubt, 
But nowhere minds thee of 

the Right or Wrong. 

XXVI 

And Reason reels into the 

artful Snare, 
And Hope and Faith are 

tangled unaware 
Amid the spell of Passion's 

plaints — that seem 
Like Angel anthems raised 

in Holy prayer. 



10 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

XXVII 

So was I led, my better Self 
to grieve, 

By Sophistries the Mind 
would fain believe. 
But soon my Soul re- 
turned a Penitent 

And cried to Heaven — 
pleading — for reprieve. 

XXVIII 

When then these luring lines 

you pensive' read. 
Know that 'tis not my wish 

thy steps to lead 
Adown the paths unblest 

of Faith and Hope; 
I love them for their Beauty 

— not their Creed. 

XXIX 

Let Faith unshaken bear the 
searching test; 

There is no balm in Omar 
for the breast 
Where Life bums low. 
When Death's dark en- 
signs pall 

The Creed of Passion is but 
sorry Jest. 



FROM A VIRGINIAN QARDEN 11 

XXX 

Yet this, old Poet, I will 

grant to thee — 
That thou hast sung Fate's 

sweetest litany, 
And on the brow of Love 

hath pressed a wreath 
Of Roses rich to rarest 

Melody. 

XXXI 

No more confounded with 

thy Sophistry 
I jrield my raptured heart 

and ear to thee. 
And tread the mazes of 

thy Garden fair 
Mid crimson Roses lost in 

ecstasy. 

xxxif 

When wearied of the rau- 
cous noisy crew 

Of Scribes and Rhymesters 
that obstruct the View, 
I turn disdainful of their 
insolence 

To soothe my Spirit with 
thy Music true. 



12 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

XXXIIf 

Wherefore, sweet Singer, at 

thy Shrine I bend. 
And to the music of thy 

Song ascend 
Above the din of voices 

violent. 
That fret my Spirit and my 

ears offend. 

XXXIV 

On Beauty's brow thou hast 

a Garland bound, 
And Love by thee a Deity is 

crowned 
To haunting melodies that 

move the soul 
Of Sympathy, with concord 

of sweet sound. 

XXXV 

Thus oft* an halcyon hour 

IVe spent with Thee 
Wrapt in the Spell, lost in 

the Mystery 
Of Life and Death, and all 

the tangled Maze — 
The "Why" and "How" of 

Human Destiny. 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 13 

XXXVI 

Ah, yes, I know my Rubaiyat 

full well, 
Soul-soothing melodies that 

banish Hell 
But leave us reft of 

Heaven, and the Soul — 
The very Soul affrighted at 

its spell! 

XXXVII 

Yet this I know — and rest 

my Trust upon — 
The old World rolls beneath 

the kindly Sun, 
And God is Love, Heaven 

is o'er our heads. 
And Conscience tells that 

Heaven must be won. 

XXXVIII 

The Clay may rear its vain 

Philosophies, 
Life cannot answer all Life's 

mysteries; 
The angel Death, He "of 

the darker drink," 
Tis through His touch alone 

the Spirit sees. 



14 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

XXXIX 

What thoughtful Soul may 
view unmoved the pain 

Of Human hearts; the cruel- 
ty of Gain; 
The Passion and the 
Pathos of a World 

Where Innocence and Virtue 
plead in vain,' — 

XL 

And not discern a Refuge in 

the Sky 
Whereto the outraged Souls 

of Men may fly — 
The Scales of God his 

Love and Wrath to 

weigh — 
With Retribution's flaming 

sword nearby? 

XLI 

Thus much, old Omar, I'll 

not yield to thee — 
I will nor hail nor praise thy 

blasphemy ; 
I do protest — by Love's 

Immortal Soul 
Protest — the Dust is not 

my Destiny! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 15 




XLil 

Awake O Soul! The Light 
that Sinai shed 

To guide the Living, sanc- 
tify the Dead, 
Is mingled with Salvation's 
Light that beams 

From Calvary's crest where 
the Anrfointed bled! 

XLIII 

O Thou Great Spirit of 

Eternity ! 
That of the Starry Clay 

didst fashion me. 
Gave me this Habitation, 

and this Robe 
Of Flesh, to veil awhile thy 

Majesty — 



ie THE NEW RUBAiYAT 

XLIV 

Let tne no more lament, nor 
Duty shirk! 

I am a Fragment of Thy 
Handiwork, 
A Piece that fits in Thine 
eternal Plan 

Wherein unmeasured poten- 
cy may lurk! 

XLV 

O tell me not in Discourse 

or in Song — 
From Night and Chaos came 

the Joyous Throng 
Of Life, and Light, and 

Loveliness, and all 
These Earthly Kingdoms 

that to them belong! 

XLVI 

Ye worldly-Wise! The very 

Grass defies 
Your Logic, and yon airy 

Songster cries 
Unto its Love—" *Tis Lies ! 

Believe it not! 
We hold Truth's mirror to 

their blinded eyes!" 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 17 

XLVII 

Nay! Not from Chaos or 

the barren Night 
My Spirit rose, but with the 

Morning Light 
It came, rejoicing in the 

Smile of God 
Who winged it then for its 

Eternal flight! 

XLVIII 

Dare ye deny that unto 
Some was given 

Answer to their prayers, 
when in some Vision — 
Bom of a splendid mo- 
ment's Ecstasy — 

They glimpsed the Secret in 
a flash from Heaven! 

XLIX 

Deem not because thou dost 

not see the Light 
There is no Light; mayhap 

'tis lack of sight, 
Or perhaps thou treadest 

some dim miry track 
From whence thou canst not 

see the Signs aright. 



18 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

L 

What petty things our 

Vision may obscure! 
Because thou dost not see 

be not too sure 
There's nought to see ; thy 

biased point of view 
Or cecity, a step aside may 

cure: 

LI 

Once from my garden path 

a Star I sought 
And sought in vain, and 

stood in silent doubt; 
One pace I moved, when 

Lo, the prospect 

cleared — 
There beamed the World a 

leaf had blotted out! 

Lll 

Ye that with Rule and Line 
would measure Him, 

And with your Logic bind 
the Seraphim, 
Whence came this wond- 
rous Reason that ye 
urge 

To prove You Nothing, and 
Faith's light to dim? 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 19 

Llll 

If Man be Nothing and his 

Life a Dream, 
His Reason then is Nothing, 

it must seem; 
And Nothing, then, by 

Nothing thus defined 
Shows Nothing has but 

Nothing for its theme! 

LIV 

If thus by Logic we may 
Nothing be, 

Were it not well O Friend 
for You and Me 
To leave old barren Rea- 
son to her way. 

And rise with Faith to some 
Reality? 

LV 

Amidst the Dust of this dim 

Shadow-Land, 
Bound by the two Eternities 

I stand. 
Myself unto Myself a 

Mystery, 
Seeking all Secret things to 

understand. 



20 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

LVI 

Like phantom Pilgrims 
through a Vale of Fears, 

We journey on with laugh- 
ter or with tears, 
Hope, Faith, and Memory, 
the only Lights 

To guide our footsteps 
through the darkening 
years. 

LVII 

Blest Sisterhood — Hope, 

Faith, and Memory! 
Bright Trinity of Life — it 

is through Ye 
We read the purpose of 

our Earthly way 
And find the pathway to 

Felicity! 

LVIIi 

Hope, Faith, and Charity, 

Genius, and Love! 
May Chance or Reason these 

define or prove? 
And would'st thou bind to 

Dust with Logic's chain 
These Saintly Graces winged 

to soar Above! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 21 

LIX 

Preach not to me of "Rea- 
son's crowning light!" 

Tis but the reflex of that 
Deeper Sight 
By Inspiration and Emo- 
tion given 

To wing the Soul for its 
Divinelier flight! 

LX 

Imagination is an Attribute 
Of Soul; Ye that this Truth 

seek to confute, 
And Fancy to the sullen 

Earth confine, 
Give for her Realm a sorry 

substitute ! 

LXI 

O Death — dread Minister of 
Time and Space! 

Beyond these confines Thou 
no more shalt trace 
And claim thy subject 
Clay. Beyond the Grave 

Is Life Eternal by the Mas- 
ter's grace! 



22 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

LXII 

O Life — upon yon m5nriad 

Worlds I see 
Thy bright Light beating, 

full and far and free, 
Before which shrinks the 

awful Spectre, back 
To its one Refuge 'neath the 

fateful Tree — 

LXIII 

Of Eden's grove, that Sor- 
row-haunted spot 

Where Hell's accursed Trin- 
ity the Plot 
Devised ; perchance the 
self-same Garden where 

Old Omar sought the Truth 
— and found it not! 

LXIV 

Let Science ridicule and 
Learning flout, 

There IS some Dark Con- 
spiracy about — 
Whose utterings and mut- 
terings assail 

The Soul within, and work a 
Curse without! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 28 

LXV 

"Nature is God and all the 

Rest absurd" 
Ye cry — "Seek There and 

you shall find your 

Lord!" 
Yet still Ye search in vain, 

and evermore 
Come back with empty 

hands and idle word! 

LXVI 

I sent my Soul 'mid Nature's 

shrines to seek 
Some Answer, but the Dumb 

god could not speak 
Except to tell of Penalties 

and Pains, 
Of cruel sport of Strong 

against the Weak. 

LXVII 

She gave no Sign my ardent 

Heart to swell, 
In all her Book one passage 

could I spell — 
No more, — "Who worship 

Me their god I am, 
And unto them I am both 

Heaven and Hell." 



24 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

LXVMI 

Nor yonder Sky, nor Earth 

from Pole to Pole 
Life's Mystery unveiled; nor 

Voice nor Goal 
Was there; nor Sign nor 

Answer did I find; 
The Silence heaped its vast- 

ness on my Soul! 

LXIX 

Then unto Him who works 

behind her Screen 
I lifted up my voice — O 

Thou Serene 
And Mighty One, raise me 

from Bondage dire, 
Grant me the Vision for the 

Things Unseen! 

LXX 

I sent my Soul into the 

Night's Abyss, 
Anon my Soul returned and 

told me this — 
"The Darkness is but 

Shadow of the Clay, 
Upon the screen of Life a 

Shade it is!" 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 25 

LXXl 

Beyond the Night's abyss 

my Soul I sent, 
And knocking at each Starry 

door it went, 
And this the Message, it 

brought back to Earth — 
Doubt is Within, Without 

all is Content! 

LXXII 

Or where old Saturn rolls 

his Circled orb, 
Or where the Pleiades in 

splendor throb. 
The Universal Anthem 

ever told — 
God is the Soul, Creation is 

His Robe! 

Lxxm 

"Monstrous Conceit!" I 

cried, "That Man should 

trust 
And urge his Reason to the 

"Why" and "Must," 
Deeming the Wisdom of 

the Universe 
Confined upon his whirling 

Speck of Dust!" 



26 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

LXXIV 

O Sophist — that with sullen 
Heart doth flout 

The Prophets, and the Pray- 
ers of the Devout! 
'Tis Thou perversely Blind 
that wilt not see 

I'he Spirit-Light that sheds 
its beams Without! 

LXXV 

May Reason measure all the 

Mighty Things 
And portion them to petty 

Questionings? 
Go Scomer first, and in 

thy Wisdom find 
The Secret of the Bird that 

yonder sings! 

LXXVI 

O Nobler far, an Universe 

wherein 
The Soul may soar forever 

questioning. 
Forever mounting to the 

One True Light 
That single bums through 

all the clouds of Sin. 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 2 7 

LXXVII 

Though strange perplexities 

enwrap my Lot, 
And weak my Vision to 

divine the Plot, 
Thus much is clear — 

"Where Death is I am 

Not," 
And clearer still — "Where 

I am Death is Not" 

LXXVIM 

I lived Before, yet know not 

how, or where; 
Dim intimations come, and 

Visions fair 
Of purest Presences, and 

pleasant plains. 
And halcyon joys in which I 

had a share. 

LXXIX 

Herein, methinks, "Reincar- 
nation" holds 

Clue to the Secret that 
nought else unfolds — 
That Spirits pass and 
choose their heaven or 
hells 

Through myriad forms that 
mundane Nature 
moulds 



^ THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

LXXX 

Out of the Past we came — 

my LfOve and I, 
Stamped with the seal of 

Immortality, 
And ever purer, stronger, 

we shall grow; 
For that which Ever Was 

will Never Die! 

LXXXI 

Past, Present, Future — sol- 
emn Trinity, 

Enfolds the measure of our 
Destiny ! 
Death is but passing 
through the Shadows 
deep 

That guard the secrets of 
Divinity. 

LXXXII 

Out of the Past's Eternity 

we came, 
In the great Mother's bosom 

burned the flame 
Of Life, that burst at last 

to Consciousness; 
And she will not deny her 

offspring's claim! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 29 

LXXXIII 

Immortal there — I shall Im- 
mortal be, 

All of the mighty Past finds 
Life in me; 
And not until they shall 
blot out what Was 

Shall they deny me Immor- 
tality! 

LXXXIV 

With Christ and Plato thus 
I do confess 

The Faith that holds the 
anodyne to Bless: 
Eternal Life is mine by 
God's decree — 

Here, Now, I feel the Infin- 
ite caress! 

LXXXV 

'Ere thou shait name m y 

Hope a phantasy, 
'Ere thou canst claim my 

Creed but ecstasy, 
'Ere thou durst vow no 

God to hear my prayer 
And this brief Life the sole 

Reality — 



30 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

LXXXVI 

First search the mjrriad 

Worlds in yon Abj^ss 
And find no spot secure to 

Faith and Bliss, 
And bringing back nor 

Hope nor ray of Light, 
Still would I cry — "Here, 

in my Soul, IT IS!" 

LXXXVII 

From old Deceits and newer 

Heresies, 
From dismal Doubts and 

brazen Blasphemies, 
From impious Pedant and 

Philosopher 
Distorting Truth with 

learned Sophistries — 

Lxxxvni 

Good Lord deliver us! That 

we may view 
But That which is Thine 

Own, and ever True; 
And with confusion smite 

the God-less band 
That bring pollution to the 

Shrine of You! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 31 

LXXXIX 

Disdainful Pedants — with 

your pride of Mind — 
That all Man's questionings 

to Logic bind. 
What Tidings bring ye of 

the Outer Way? 
And what avails it all when 

Dust-consigned ! 

xc 

O Ye, of sullen Heart and 

cold disdain, 
That mock at Faith and seek 

to make it plain 
Hope's but a phantom? 

Why! the Soul protests 
The Hand that fashioned It 

wrought not in vain! 

xci 

My Spirit — Passion- winged 

— It mounts and soars, 
And spurns your Prison bars 

and bolted doors! 
Reason is but the Mount 

from which it wings 
Its higher Flight to seek for 

nobler Shores! 



32 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

XCII 

Upon the wakened wonder 
of my Soul 

The deeper Harmonies of 
Nature roll, 
Earth, Sea and Sky in 
melody proclaim 

With equal voice — the Liv- 
ing God's control. 

XCII I 

This God-like Hope deep in 
my Heart, it tells 

What all thy Dusty Logic 
vainly spells 
Of Truth. Not purpose- 
less and false 'twas set, 

And not in vain within the 
Soul it dwells. 

XCIV 

I know but little, but thus 

much I know — 
That Death, which gathers 

all things here below. 
Is but a Means unto some 

viewless End; 
By Nature's Law, and Faith. 

that much I know! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARD EN 33 

XCV 

Indeed I have in raptured 

moments caught 
Flashes of Truth by Reason 

vainly sought, 
The momentary parting of 

the Veil 
Revealed that which no 

Logic ever taught. 

XCV I 

And in such instant did my 

Spirit seem 
To catch a glimpse of the 

Eternal Scheme 
Wherein the Past and 

Future merged in One 
Reality, and E^arth was but 

a Dream! 

xcvii 

There, in the radiance of 
Cosmic Soul, 

The Past and Future seemed 
a Perfect Whole 
Wherein the Hosts de- 
parted and to Come 

Their Being held beyond old 
Time's control 



34 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

xcvni 

And even as I gazed, from 

out that Sphere 
A Spirit strayed, and 

straightway in the Snare 
Of Time was caught, to 

languish and to dream 
Until the Master shall recall 

it There. 

xcix 

Can all these wondrous In- 
timations be 

But phantoms of a Poet's 
ecstasy? 
Begone — dark Prophet! 
Thought is creative, 

Soul is the Ultimate Real- 
ity! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 




For I remember once by 
Kamak's pile. 

Amid the shadows of its col- 
umned Aisle, 
I wept the waste to see, 
and wept for those 

Who reared this sculptured 
Glory of the Nile; 



THE NEW RUBAIYAT 



CI 

When suddenly a Face I 

chanced to see — 
A gentle goddess lost in 

Reverie 
Of old Remembrances, her 

eyes adream 
Seemed meditating on 

Eternity. 

cit 

And through her eyes I saw 

the Pageant wend — 
Of mighty Kings that did 

with Kings contend, 
The Pomp and Power, 

and the Weal and Woe 
Of countless Millions, in the 

prospect blend! 

cm 

I cried aloud — O thou 
Divinity ! 

Whence came that smile of 
sweet serenity 
That beamed on Pharoah 
as upon me Now — 

Did Mortal give thee Im- 
mortality? 



FROM A VTRGINIAN GARDEN 37 

CIV 

Hast thou then gained what 

thy Designer sought 
In vain? A Soul! Which he 

divinely wrought 
To give thee immortality 

Below! 
Did Genius fashion this and 

pass to Nought! 

cv 

Is*t all but Dreams and Dust, 

and Destiny 
At random venture and wild 

revelry? 
Locked in the Star-Dust 

when no Mind there 

was, 
Till Chance — the Wizard — 

found the fatal Key! 

cvi 

If Chance unto the Void 

Life's mandate flung. 
Creation trembling on the 

Balance hung. 
And in that Hazard there 

was cast my Soul, 
And there from Nothing my 

Existence wrung! 



THE NEW RUBAIYAT 



evil 

If Fate be Chance and Des- 
tiny its Game, 

And forth from Senseless 
Nothing leapt the Flame 
Of Life; — e'en so, Be- 
loved, may not this 
Chance 

Repeat the Process, and thy 
Presence claim — 

CVIII 

Once more, in some New 

Universe To Be 
That waits its sure and 

wondrous Destiny, 
Where Time and Chance 

shall set the Scene 

again 
And to the Drama summon 

You and Me! 

cix 

And thus may every Combi- 
nation set 

Be set again, in the Eternal 
fret 
And moil of Matter in 
Infinity ! 

Once caught, v^hy not again 
— in Chance's net? 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 39 

cx 

Behold the Stars! And in 

their Glory drown 
Doubt and Despair, and all 

the Brood that frown 
On Faith; let Exultation 

rise supreme 
And read a Promise not to 

Logic known! 

CXI 

I sometimes think these 
Stars above my head 

Are blest Abodes of the un- 
numbered Dead 
That wend their Heaven- 
ward way from Sphere 
to Sphere, 

And find in each a Paradise 
to tread. 

exit 

Would'st thou then find thy 
lost Love — seek her 
There ! 

Mayhap thou'lt meet her 
waiting for thee, where 
Some statelier Sun illumes 
a nobler World 

Of Beings radiant and sur- 
passing fair. 



40 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

CXIII 

These myriad Worlds, so 

wondrous to the view, 
May not One hold to our sad 

Search the clue? 
May not there be in this 

Immensity 
Some Garden where Earth's 

fairest Dreams come 

True? 

cxiv 

And though no Door re- 
sponds to Reason's key, 

Who is it dares to say what 
"Cannot Be," 
Or swears a single Hope 
impossible 

In the vast Chances of 
Eternity! 

cxv 

This Universe — this One 

stupendous Whole 
Of mighty Systems that in 

splendor roll. 
Who dare deny in all this 

Heav'nly space 
One little Spot of Refuge 

for the Soul! 



FROM A VlRGf NIAN GARDEN 41 

cxvr 

For it is bound to us — yon 

Milky Way, 
By Cosmic Law and kinship 

of the Clay; 
He that apportioned It of 

Life and Light 
Will not consign my Being 

to decay! 

CXVII 

And He that set this mighty 

Arch of Light, 
And winged its Systems for 

harmonious flight. 
And sempiternal placed 

each Atom there — 
Will not consign my Soul to 

endless Night! 

CXVIII 

Life's meaning! Hast thou 

not read it — why then 
Thou hast not lived! These 

multitudes of Men 
That went Before, they 

left the Record clear — 
That Clay is of the Earth, 

the Soul of Heav-n! 



42 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

CXIX 

They Came and Went; 

veiled in the Flesh they 

came, 
Their Bodies of the Dust 

were made; that same 
Dumb Dust, that Starry, 

Deathless Dust, not less 
Than when they gave it 

meaning and a Name! 

cxx 

And if on Dust thou calFst 

to explain, 
Methinks the Dust might 

give the Answer plain — 
"I am nor more nor less 

than what I am. 
As Spirit finds and leaves me 



CXXI 

Man's Prayers, and Miracles, 

You do decry — 
"For in the face of Nature's 

Laws they fly!" 
Yet dare you say the 

Maker of the Law 
May not His Law suspend? 

Then tell me why? 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 43 

CXXII 

"Nature is just," you vow, 

"Her Scales are fair. 
Her Balance gives to This or 

That its share, 
And with undeviating 

Equity 
Rules Sea and dew-drop, 

mote and Starry sphere." 

CXXIII 

Ah ! but Her Scales were not 
for Soul designed 

But for Her own — Her Mat- 
ter dumb and blind; — 
Her Laws, unless by Deity 
devised 

Mock at the Soul and flout 
the ardent Mind! 

cxxiv 

No Hell, they cry, "save 

what exists in fear." 
Be still my Heart, the Secret 

draweth near! 
Find them a Hell they'll 

grant to us a Heaven; 
Behold O Doubter, Lo— -thy 

Hell is Here! 



44 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

cxxv 

"A Myth" ye say, "our hap- 
piness to quell, 

We ask no Heaven and we 
fear no Hell!" 
Yet shall You not escape, 
for IT is HERE! 

And 'ere thou goest thou 
shalt know it well! 

cxxvi 

Scan the dark Record that 
the Ages yield 

Of Pride, and Lust, and 
sanguinary field; 
Of Martyrdom, and Tor- 
ture, and Despair, 

And gaping Wounds that 
Time has never healed! 

CXXVII 

O Earth — Step-Mother of 

the harsh control! 
Remorseless thou dost take 

thy grievous Toll 
Of Tears and Travail for 

the meagre fare 
Thou givest thine adopted 

Child — the Soul! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 45 

CXXVIII 

Merciless Mother of the 

Flood and Flame! 
What anguished Multitudes 

have cursed thy Name, 
As seared and crushed by 

thy relentless hand 
They felt thy Rage — that 

knows nor truce nor 

shame ! 

CXXIX 

See! In thy bosom Nero — 

there at rest 
Amid his victims, and thine 

equal guest! 
There lie they all — or 

Monster or a Saint, 
Adream in dusty Peace; O 

dreadful Jest! 

cxxx 

O cold and bitter Step- 
Mother! We sue 

That Higher Court above 
thy Vault of Blue ! 
From thy Blind judgment 
we appeal our Case 

And plead the Court of Souls 
for its review! 



49 T HE NEW RUBAIYAT 

CXXXf 

Yet not unmindful of thy 

Favors shown 
Is he who pens the Writ, for 

he hath known 
Thy Joys. Yet not for thy 

Vast cruelty 
May all thy Glories and thy 

Gifts atone! 

CXXXII 

Dark is the Record in thy 

Bosom pent 
O Earth! Much didst thou 

promise of Content, 
But Dust was all thou 

gavest in the End — 
Dust for the Vile, Dust for 

the Innocent! 

CXXXIII 

Me and my Love, yon Bird 

upon the bough, 
Between thy Stony heart 

and Starry brow 
To Dust thou'lt grind Us, 

as thou grindest all! 
We know thy Treachery, 

alais — we Know! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 47 

CXXXIV 

Yet there be Two thy grind- 
ing may not wear, 

For Sleep and Death are 
ever Young and Fair, 
The Healer and Restorer 
of thy work 

Formed of no Flesh thy cruel 
fangs may tear. 



THE NEW RUBAIYAT 




cxxxv 

Blest Thanatos — Restorer of 

the Soul, 
Not over Thee Time's Jug- 

gemath doth roll! 
Like to thy sister Sleep — 

thy Ministry 
Is all Divine, and not of 

Time's control! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 49 

CXXXVI 

upon Life's Mount we 

stand, yet still they 

rise — 
The Hills of Hope that 

tower to the Skies, 
And though their Summits 

here we may not see. 
We shall behold them with 

Immortal eyes! 

CXXXVI I 

These bonds of Flesh that 

bind thee here below. 
They shall be sundered, that 

thy Soul may grow 
Unto that compass by its 

God designed; 
And not till then shalt thou 

the Secret know! 

CXXXVIII 

What is Man's Wisdom 'mid 

these Mysteries 
Of Causes bent to unknown 

Purposes? 
Some Rules and Tables 

scratched upon a Leaf 
Of Time flung on a Ball of 

Dirt — it is! 



50 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

CXXXIX 

A little Knowledge gathered 

by his Tribe 
For boastful Argument or 

Diatribe, 
An Infant's babble of its 

treasured toys — 
Flaunted with pompous 

mien by Fool or Scribe! 

CXL 

What is it all but the moil of 

a Mite 
'Mid Mountains to move? 

And what is the Sight 
Of a Worm of the Ground 

that gazes around 
And sees not the Day — and 

knows but the Night? 

CXLI 

This Clay, this Dust, this 

Matter dumb and 

blind — 
Tis the Soul's dream, the 

pageantry of Mind! 
Else were it Cause and 

Result Self-contained — 
A Self within Itself it cannot 

find! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 51 

CXLII 

TODAY and YESTERDAY 

mark Time's decay 
Whereof the Soul knows 

not; THAT is alway 
Nor more nor less than 

what it Was and Is; 
TOMORROW is part of the 

SouFs TO-DAY! 

CXLIII 

For if Man hath no Soul 

what then is He 
More than his corpse? O 

solemn Mystery! 
All that was There before 

it Here remains; 
And what then was that 

Conscious Entity? 

CXLIV 

Ask not the Winds that o'er 
the Meadows pass, 

Ask not the Rain, the Sun- 
shine, or the Grass, 
These heed no Question 
and no Answer give; 

Your Earth is iron and your 
Sky is brass! 



52 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

CXLV 

This marble Image prone — 

this lifeless Clay — 
Whither the Tenant that has 

passed away? 
The Soul that beamed 

from out those glassy 

eyes — 
'Tis clear That has no share 

in this decay! 

CXLVI 

Two-fold was this Being; 

give Earth its own, 
But claim not for the Dust 

that Spirit flown, 
For IT has fled to sweep 

with tireless wing 
The Morning Skies that 

circle Heaven's Throne! 

CXLVI I 

If Past and Future, Now, is 
Nought, — you say — 

Than He that passed but 
this late Hour away. 
Not less than one Unborn 
is He, not more 

Than Him lost in a Thous- 
and Year's decay! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 53 

CXLVIII 

But if you still persist they 

Both are Nought, 
Then is your Wisdom bare, 

and dearly bought, 
For if your All be Now — 

a Moment's span — 
Vain is the knowledge by 

your cunning caught! 

CXLIX 

Take Nought from Nothing 
— what will there re- 
main? 

Add Nought to Nothing — 
what is then your gain? 
Recount, divide or multi- 
ply your Sum — 

The task in Nothing ends; 
'tis all in vain! 

CL 

For HAS BEEN minus 

NEVER plus TO BE 
Totals your NOW, itself 

illusory ; 
A grim Phantasmagoria 

of Time 
That sums the measure of 

absurdity ! 



54 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

CLI 

Nor deem because by 

Logic's aid I press 
The Argument, its force is 

then the less, 
First tell what prompted 

Reason to the task 
'Ere ye pronounce my Creed 

an empty guess. 

CLIl 

But should Annihilation end 
the View, 

What is there then — for- 
sooth — for Me to rue? 
Nor shall your after Mock- 
ery offend — 

But how with You if all of 
It be True! 

CLIli 

Nor will I seek in Wine false 
strength to brave 

My fate, playing the part of 
fool or knave; 
I shall go clean and clear- 
eyed to the end — 

I shall go chaste and sober 
to my Grave! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 55 

CLIV 

Some for a Paradise on 

earth contend, 
And some there are who will 

no credit lend 
To earthly Paradise, or 

Heav'n, or Hell, 
And stumble blindly to their 

hopeless end. 

CLV 

O Scomer — make the most 

of thy short stay, 
The Ground is gaping for its 

kindred Clay! 
Let Faith and Hope and 

Charity be Ours, 
The glorious Hazard, THAT 

is Mine Today! 

CLVI 

Thus am I better fortified to 

strive 
Than You with all that 

Logic can contrive, 
All that is yours I have, 

with More, to make 
Me brave in Death and 

nobler perhaps in Life! 



S6 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

CLVM 

What does your Learning 
and its quest reveal 

Of Fate's grim Mystery of 
Woe and Weal? 
The Heart's devotion 
sheds a clearer Light! 

*Tis well to Know, but bet- 
ter still to Feel. 

CLvm 

The Heart moves on when 

Sense is lost in Sleep, 
Oft leaps exultant where the 

Mind doth creep — 
It beats its protest at sad 

Reason's doubts; 
Firmer the Bridge it casts 

athwart the Deep. 

CLIX 

Let Faith and Hope their 

sacred Signs invent! 
I'd rather yield them all my 

Soul's assent 
Than hold that monstrous 

creed — a Godless world. 
And Human creatures on no 

Mission bent. 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 57 

CLX 

Ye of the cursed creed of 

"Might is Right," 
Ye may too late discern that 

"Right is Might," 
Finding Hell's legions 

stronger than thine own, 
And Angels mightier still in 

Virtue's fight! 

CLXI 

With "Might is Right" your 
impious battle-cry 

Ye press and smite, and Grod 
and man defy; 
So may ye learn the blast- 
ing might of Hell, 

And power of Heav*n, that 
creed to satisfy! 

CLXII 

Is there below a Monster 
more accurst 

Than he that can from hun- 
ger cold and thirst 
Withhold the coin that 
might the pang assuage, 

And live the best while 
smiling on the worst? 



58 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

CLXill 

O thou that gatherest the 
Golden hoard 

By hook or crook, by trick- 
ery or fraud, 
What wilt thou purchase 
with thy riches, Friend? 

In what Eternal Bank is it 
all stored? 

CLXIV 

Think you to revel at the 

Feast of Life 
Unmindful of the want and 

anguish rife 
Without thy gates, nor 

pay the Reckoning — 
Nor bear thy portion in the 

grievous strife! 

CLXV 

Ah — your's the cursed heart 

that can deny 
The widow's portion or the 

orphan's cry^ — 
Decline a pittance to a 

dire distress 
And look on famine with un- 

pitying eye! 



FROM A VrRGINIAN GARDEN 59 

CLXVI 

Feast well thy Gluttony at 

board and mart, 
For thou ere long will of the 

Dust be part, 
And Earth will lighten and 

Hell groan with joy 
When Death shall frown and 

still thy Miser heart! 

CLXVII 

This Worldly Trust you set 
your soul upon — 

It shall breed reptile Hor- 
rors, and anon, 
The Harvest you shall 
gather will be swarms 

To fang Death's barb, when 
Life's brief day is done! 

CLXVIII 

For me — I give my mite, 

and giving grieve 
My poverty, that has not 

more to give; 
Holding no privilege more 

blest than that 
Which may a fellow- 

creature's need relieve. 



60 



THE NEW RUBAIYAT 




CLXIX 

For Love, and Mercy, Rap- 
ture, Charity, 

Are tokens of the Soul's 
Divinity, 
Above the Mind's analjrsis 
they stand — 

Beacons of Faith and Im- 
mortality ! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 61 

CLXX 

But if in moments of despair 
and trial 

You cannot with God's 
Mercy reconcile — 
The Tragedies and Hor- 
rors of the E^rth 

That seem to banish Provi- 
dence, the while; 

CLXX I 

So that thy Heart is torn, 

thy Soul dismayed 
At the grim pageantry of 

Sin arrayed — 
The monstrous Moumful- 

ness of all the Past 
With its red Record, and old 

Debts unpaid; 

CLXXII 

At Virtue crushed and Vice 
victorious, 

At Blasphemers about, con- 
temptuous 
Of all the Sacred Promises 
and Hopes, 

Who mocking, swear the 
Grave takes All of us! 



62 THE NEW RU BAIYAT 

CLXXMI 

Peace to thy Soul! It is not 
thine affair, 

Thee and thy Conscience, 
these thine only care! 
Art Thou to Judge and 
settle for the World? 

Nay! Each in time will an- 
swer — Here or There! 

CLXXIV 

'Tis not for Thee to portion 
Praise or Blame, 

To measure Justice, or dis- 
pute the Claim; 
Thou know'st not which 
way that Pilgrim went, 

Thou know'st not which way 
this Pilgrim came! 

CLXXV 

What is the Sum to thee? 

Canst thou not see 
That all the Sorrow and the 
Misery 
Of these vast Multitudes 
beneath the Moon — 
It is not more than thine 
own Doom — to thee! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 6S 

CLXXVI 

The Joy and Sorrow of a 

single Soul 
That makes the Pilgrimage 

and pays the Toll — 
It is nor more nor less 

than All Of It! 
The Tragedy of One sums 

up the Whole. 

CLXXVM 

Grant me, O Lord, but 

strength mine own to 

bear, 
Give me the Faith that will 

not brook Despair, 
Look down in Mercy on 

my frailties. 
My sins forgive, and take my 

dying Prayer! 

CLXXVI1I 

For Thou dost Live and 
Reign! I read the Sign 

Writ clear o'er All in char- 
acters Divine; 
In the deep pathos of our 
Earthly quest, 

Or in the Stars that with 
Thy Glory shine — 



64 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

CLXXIX 

1 know the Truth! Yet was 

it still more clear 
In blest Compassio n's 

glance, and Pity's tear; 
In the Soul-eloquence of 

Virtue's voice 
And in her mien when Death 

was drawing near. 

CLXXX 

Aye ! On sweet Human faces 
have I read — 

God lives in Souls by Saintly 
purpose led, 
I've seen the Light reflect- 
ed from Above 

Upon the face of such when 
Life had fled. 

CLXXXI 

I've read it in a Mother's 

soft caress, 
In Love's bright eye agleam 

with tenderness, 
And in the smile that 

marks the Infant's 

dream, 
And in the Faith that noble 

Souls profess. 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 65 

CLXXXII 

By those that with Unright- 
eousness contend 

And stand undaunted Virtue 
to defend, 
By Angel heart in Human 
form enshrined — 

I know the Soul shall unto 
Him ascend! 

CLXXXIM 

By those that from on High 

their Wisdom draw 
And humbly bend their 

Maker to adore, 
By all these Things I read 

the mighty Truth — 
God Lives and Reigns, Here, 

Now, and Evermore! 

CLXXXIV 

No more with Doubt beset 
therefore lament 

Thy lot, nor rage with im- 
pious discontent; 
Suffice the Master knows, 
and of His Plan 

Thou art a Part, and to His 
Purpose bent! 



6« THE NEW RUBAIYAT 



CLXXXV 

The Seas may rise, the 

Earthquake thunders 

roll, 
Old Earth be drowned, or 

rent from pole to pole, 
And dreadful Darkness 

blot Creation's face — 
Yet through that Darkness 

One shall lead my Soul! 

CLXXXVI 

"No lingering Ages of de- 
crepitude 

With euthenasia for Earth's 
Evil brood," 
But He shall come in 
Majesty and Wrath 

To sift the Souls of Men and 
crush Hell's feud! 

CLXXXVII 

"His Hand Omnipotent shall 
rend the Clay 

And push the Elements 
aside, that they 
No more shall stand be- 
tween his Face and 
those 

Whom He shall come to 
Judge — on that Last 
Day!" 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 67 

CLXXXVIII 

But if You still deride the 

pious Plan 
And hold the worship for 

Mankind is "Man," 
Yet would I point to 

Christ upon the 

Mount — 
Holding Him peerless since 

the World began! 

CLXXXIX 

Let Pedants urge their 

Logic to explain 
That Jesus and the Prophets 

lived in vain; 
Show first my Soul a 

kinder Creed than this 
Which bursts the Grave and 

cleanses from all stain! 

cxc 

It matters not that Mockers 

may decry, 
And worldly-Wise the 

Miracle deny! 
The Creed of Christ by 

noblest Souls professed 
Is Man's supreme Appeal to 

God on High. 



63 THE NEW RUBA1YAT 

CXCI 

If for some Purpose 'twas by 

God decreed 
That for His seeking Man 

should make a Creed, 
Then He'll fulfill the Hope 

by Man proposed 
When on His Son they 

called their Souls to 

lead! 

CXCII 

"A Legend and a M5^h, 

man-made," ye cry; 
Show me a better then to 

satisfy 
The Soul's Desire! And 

if there be a God 
In any Heaven, this Myth 

He'll justify! 

cxcm 
Though other Creeds have 

held some share of 

Truth, 
Yet have they died. This 

wears Immortal youth, 
Summing them aU — the 

Fountain of all Good, 
Holding alike all Men in 

Heaven's Ruth! 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 69 

CXCIV 

He lived and died! And God 

will justify 
The Witnesses that stand to 

testify 
To the Messiah's Mission 

and His Truth! 
Man's holiest Hope the Lord 

will not deny. 

cxcv 

And when at last I near 

Death's sombre Vale, 
My Prayer shall be to Him 

who will not fail 
My need. So will I front 

the mortal Dart 
With level glance that will 

nor dare nor quail. 

cxcvi 

Ah, my Beloved, when with 

tearful eye 
You breathe my name, or 

hold your vigil nigh 
The daisied turf 'neath 

where I lie adream — 
Methinks my cold dumb 

Clay would hear your 

sigh; 



70 THE NEW RUBAIYAT 

CXCVII 

And strive to work once 
more the olden spell 

Of Love within your heart, 
and bum to tell 
The solemn Secret which 
it learned at last, 

And to your question whis- 
per— "All is Well!" 

CXCVIII 

For when anear the Poet's 
starry bed 

Comes Life and Love with 

light and lingering tread, 

His dreaming Dust would 

thrill to list their vows, 

And joy to know their pres- 
ence overhead! 

cxcix 
O brother - Poet, of the 

TIME TO BE! 
Who shall in turn dispute 
the Mystery, 
Breathe thou a Prayer o'er 
my forgotten Clay, 
Deal gently with my Verse, 
and tell of Me — 



FROM A VIRGINIAN GARDEN 



71 



cc 

When unto Death Sin's Pen- 
alty I paid, 

And in the Dust my lifeless 
Clay was laid, 
I did descend, with Trust 
in Christ to Rise; 

Firm in that Faith I fell — 
and unafraid! 

Amen. 




018 394 485 A XJ^J 




